WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump may have poked a congressional bear with his repeated refusal to condemn Saudi Arabia for its role in the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

Lawmakers have until now done little to push back against Trump's approach to foreign policy – standing aside as he launched a trade war, picked fights with long-time U.S. allies and embraced dictators from North Korea to Russia.

But the Khashoggi killing has riled Republicans and Democrats alike, sparking a nascent legislative rebellion that promises to escalate when Democrats take control of the House in January. A clash over Trump's handling of the journalist's murder – and his broader embrace of Saudi Arabia – could unfold as early as next week, when Congress is set to reconvene.

Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has requested a classified briefing from top Trump administration officials – including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis – on Khashoggi's murder as well as the U.S. support for a Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen.

In that closed-door session, tentatively set for next week, lawmakers are expected to grill Pompeo and Mattis about the CIA's reported conclusion that Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, ordered Khashoggi's Oct. 2 murder inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The journalist had gone into the diplomatic facility to get documents he needed for his upcoming marriage to a Turkish woman.

Trump has publicly questioned the CIA's assessment, emphasizing the crown prince's denials even as the Saudi government's account of Khashoggi's fate has shifted. On Thursday, Trump said the crown prince "regretted the death more than I do" and reiterated his position that there was no conclusive evidence tying the crown prince to Khashoggi’s murder.

"The CIA doesn’t say they did it. They do point out certain things, and in pointing out those things, you can conclude that maybe he did or maybe he didn’t," the president told reporters in Florida, where he is spending Thanksgiving weekend with his family.

Earlier this week, Corker and Sen. Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, responded to Trump's equivocation by forcing the administration to determine whether the crown prince was responsible for Khashoggi's murder. The senators used a provision in the Magnitsky Act to trigger that assessment.

In the House, Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., who is poised to chair the Intelligence Committee come January, has also vowed to scrutinize Trump's statements downplaying the CIA's assessment, as well as the broader U.S. alliance with Saudi Arabia.

"Certainly we will be delving further into the murder of Khashoggi, and I want to make sure that the committee is fully debriefed on it," Schiff told The Washington Post. "We will certainly want to examine what the intelligence community knows about the murder."

Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., who is likely to snag the gavel of the House Foreign Affairs Committee when Democrats take control, has also promised to re-examine the U.S-Saudi alliance in the wake of Khashoggi's death.

"It’s unacceptable to murder a journalist," Engel said in a statement earlier this week. "When the United States is leading on the global stage, we can apply the sort of pressure that advances our values. Instead, the president is acting as though the United States is dependent on Saudi Arabia and not the other way around."

One element of the U.S-Saudi relationship that is ripe for legislative push back is the war in Yemen, a deadly conflict that has sparked the world's worst humanitarian disaster. The war is a proxy battle between Saudi Arabia and its archenemy in the region, Iran. The U.S. has supported a Saudi-led coalition that is trying to defeat the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels who overthrew Yemen's previous government.

With millions of Yemeni civilians on the brink of starvation, the war has become increasingly controversial – and the U.S. role has grown increasingly unpopular on Capitol Hill. Khashoggi's murder has galvanized opponents to press for an end to the conflict.

Sens. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont liberal, and Mike Lee, a Utah conservative, are hoping to force a vote on a war powers resolution that would force the Trump administration to end its military role in the conflict. That measure could come up for a vote as early as next week.

Khashoggi's murder "underscores how urgent it has become for the United States to redefine our relationship with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia," Sanders said in a statement promising to push for a vote on his proposal.

It's not clear if that measure has enough support to pass the Senate. House Republican leaders blocked a similar measure in that chamber earlier this month, but proponents hope to revive it.

"Should they be able to pass it in the Senate, that would put pressure on the House once again," said Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., a chief backer of the war powers measure. "Otherwise if that doesn’t happen, we will in the next Congress be in a better position to move it forward."

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Turkish police stand guard as they cordoned off an underground car park, Oct. 22, 2018, in Istanbul, after they found an abandoned car belonging to the Saudi consulate, three weeks after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate. OZAN KOSE, AFP/Getty Images

Turkish forensics arrive at an underground car park cordoned off by Turkish police, Oct. 22, 2018 in Istanbul, after they found an abandoned car belonging to the Saudi consulate, three weeks after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate. OZAN KOSE, AFP/Getty Images

Security personnel guard Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul, Monday, Oct. 22, 2018. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman called the son of Jamal Khashoggi, the kingdom announced early Monday, to express condolences for the death of the journalist killed at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul by officials that allegedly included a member of the royal's entourage. Lefteris Pitarakis, AP

Turkish forensics leave an underground car park cordoned off by Turkish police, Oct. 22, 2018, in Istanbul, after police found an abandoned car belonging to the Saudi consulate, three weeks after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate. OZAN KOSE, AFP/Getty Images

In this image made from a March 2018 video provided by Metafora Production, Jamal Khashoggi reacts as a cat jumped on his lap, while speaking in an interview at an undisclosed location. Eighteen days after Khashoggi disappeared, Saudi Arabia acknowledged early Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018, that the 59-year-old writer has died in what it said was a "fistfight" inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Metafora Production via AP

A security guard walks outside Saudi Arabia's consulate in Istanbul, Saturday, Oct. 20, 2018. Saudi Arabia claims Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi died in a "fistfight" in consulate, finally admitting that the writer had been slain at its diplomatic post. The overnight announcement in Saudi state media came more than two weeks after Khashoggi, 59, entered the building for paperwork required to marry his Turkish fiancée, and never came out. Lefteris Pitarakis, AP

A woman stands next to police barriers, in front of the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, on Oct. 20, 2018. Saudi Arabia admitted on October 20, 2018 that critic Jamal Khashoggi was killed inside its Istanbul consulate, saying he died during a "brawl", as Turkey vowed to release the full findings of its own investigation. Yasin Akgul, AFP/Getty Images

Sherine Tadros, head of New York (UN) Office of Amnesty International, speaks during a news conference at the United Nations, Oct. 18, 2018. Members from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, The Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders make an appeal regarding the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. TIMOTHY A. CLARY, AFP/Getty Images

Turkish forensic officers leave the Saudi consulate after they conducted a new search over the disappearance and alleged slaying of writer Jamal Khashoggi, in Istanbul, early Thursday, Oct. 18, 2018. Emrah Gurel, AP

Turkish forensic officers arrive at the Saudi consulate to conduct a new search over the disappearance and alleged slaying of writer Jamal Khashoggi, in Istanbul, early Thursday, Oct. 18, 2018. Pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak on Wednesday said it had obtained audio recordings of the alleged killing of Saudi writer Khashoggi inside the consulate on Oct. 2. Emrah Gurel, AP

A Turkish police officer walks inside the property of the residence of the Saudi consul General Mohammed al-Otaibi as Turkish police conduct a search after the disappearance and alleged slaying of writer Jamal Khashoggi, in Istanbul, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2018. Emrah Gurel, AP

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shakes hands with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Tuesday Oct. 16, 2018. Pompeo also met on Tuesday with Saudi King Salman over the disappearance and alleged slaying of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi, who vanished two weeks ago during a visit to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. Leah Mills, Pool photo by Leah Millis

A security member is seen inside the entrance of the Saudi Arabia's Consulate in Istanbul, Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2018. A Turkish forensics teams finished a search for evidence inside the Saudi Arabia Consulate in Istanbul early Tuesday morning, over the disappearance and alleged slaying of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi. Petros Giannakouris, AP

Two trucks are loaded with evidence from Turkish forensic police officers as they take part in the investigation of the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Oct. 16, 2018. TOLGA BOZOGLU, EPA-EFE

Tawakkol Karman, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate for 2011, gestures as she talks to members of the media about the disappearance of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi, near the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul, Monday, Oct. 8, 2018. Lefteris Pitarakis, AP

A security guard walks in the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul, Tuesday, Oct. 9, 2018. Veteran Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared Oct. 2, 2018, while on a visit to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, sparking an international uproar involving the kingdom, Turkey and the United States that remains unresolved. Lefteris Pitarakis, AP

This image taken from CCTV video obtained by the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet and made available on Oct. 9, 2018, claims to show Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018. CCTV via AP

A bird flies next to Saudi Arabia's flag at the roof top of their consulate building in Istanbul, Sunday, Oct. 14, 2018. Veteran Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi disappeared over a week ago while on a visit to the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, sparking an international uproar involving the kingdom, Turkey and the United States that remains unresolved. Petros Giannakouris, AP